Daniel is a committed dad and family man who owns no less than five Red Rooster restaurants. He has over 150 employees, mentoring and training them all with a customer focused attitude.

This Kiwi says he got lucky when he married an Aussie girl – but now, the Ipswich area is also reaping the reward with Daniel’s restaurants being some of the best in the country. Just like Australia ‘adopted’ Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, we have also claimed Daniel as one of our own.

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well I am originally from New Zealand and have lived in the Ipswich local area for around 5 years now. I married an Aussie girl and have three daughters- all under the age of 10. I’m a keen sportsman (golf is probably my main obsession), am a mad All Blacks fan and I absolutely love dressing up as Santa at Christmas.

What has been your career path to date?

I started off behind the counter at Maccas funnily enough – seems I was destined for a life in fast food – but have done a whole heap of stuff before landing here with the Reds brand. I completed a double degree in marketing and design and am also certified in neurolinguistics. This is all about how you read people and how to influence and persuade them through building rapport. From there I went on to sell photocopiers for Xerox (true story) and later started my own recruitment agency in Queensland. After 5 years I sold the agency and took on a national marketing position for a massive IT company. Then I went way back to my roots and bought into Red Rooster.

passionate | real | motivated

What inspired you to become a Red Rooster franchisee?

I liked the idea of going back to my roots, back to fast food. Plus, I loved that Red Rooster is an iconic Australian brand. They have great real estate across the country and their brand awareness is definitely high. There really weren’t too many brands out there that could boast like Red Rooster. I liked that.

How important are people to your business and how do you make it work?

I employ a large number of employees across all five of my restaurants. That basically equates to around 200 staff members- so as you can appreciate, people are my biggest asset but also my biggest headache. I try to provide a culture which staff will buy into and I always try to be fair but firm. It’s not about reinventing the wheel… I think that if we always stay customer first orientated and excel at good quality service and food we will be successful.

Would you recommend Red Rooster to people looking into buying a franchise?

If you have the right attitude and outlook I would 100% recommend Red Rooster. It’s an iconic brand with enviable real estate all over the country. The kind of market exposure and awareness we have cannot be ignored. We are evolving again as a brand, always striving to stay relevant with customers and doing more now than ever before to identify and give the customers what they want. You can’t ignore this. It’s a good kind of business to get into, especially when we are talking about food.

What is your favourite item on the menu and why?

One thing Reds do really well is our core product, chicken, so I can’t go past the classic quarter chicken and chips. It’s the ultimate Aussie meal.